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Countries
Countries: Ancalamar: Argens - The first great empire and the ancient homeland of the elven race, now a mere shadow of its former self. The Elven nation of Argens controlled all the land bordering the Olaris Sea and a substantial portion of northern Ortugan during the 1st and 2nd ages before the Upheaval and the Eldar Wars with Makaan toppled them from their position of military and political power. However, they have continued to be one of the singular producers of culture and philosophy since that time, with Argent teachers having been a mark of status for the wealthy for thousands of years. What as once the nation of Argens is almost completely subsumed into other nations now, with Rohall and Cameleopardis having pushed their borders back on either side of the Olaris Sea almost to the mouth of the Valen river. Flaeaness - Far to the frozen north of Ancalamar, the land of wild elves lies. After the Eldar Wars, a sect split off and continued the fight against Rohall. When that conflict proved fruitless against Rohall's superior might, these elves ranged up and down the coasts of Ancalamar as far as both northern Ortugan and as far south as Haringia. They were the terrors of the seas and later the skies for a thousand years, but over time have mellowed and become quite peaceable by the dawn of the Fifth Age. They are actually now known for their politeness and finely crafted wood products, particularly furniture. Rohall - The dominant military power in the world notable for its bizarre governmental system. Rohall controls most of the northern continent of Ancalamar and with its unchallenged sky navy dominates most of the world of Rakendawn. While majority-dwarven Rohall is somewhat averse to outsiders, it has a unique citizenship requirement: one must serve the government for 30 years to gain the right to vote or hold public office. Citizenship is not automatically conferred by birth but is available to anyone willing to complete a harsh Term of Service. It is also one of the only nations in the world where the practice of arcane magic is nearly unregulated. Haringia: Cameleopardis - A cosmopolitan nation that once ruled most of the world but is now merely a runner-up in the Great Game. Founder and nominal head of the Camelan Union, an economic and political alliance between the major nations of the southern continent. It has been a majority human nation for thousands of years, but the recent influx of goblinoids have become a sizable economic and political bloc. While the hinterlands have resisted the tide of goblinoid migration, the cities have not and in particular its capital has become a majority-hobgoblin city, with frequently unfortunate consequences for the non-hobgoblins who live there. Lamartierre - Situated on the eastern side of Haringia abutting the Worldspine mountains, bordered by Cameleopardis in the north, Makaan in the south, and Portelas on the west this country has provided more recruits to the Sons of Sydan than any other. It's premier military unit, the Lamartierran Winged Hussars, has a proud tradition stretching back centuries that it continues to this day with military ability (if not technology or numbers) to match even the armies of Rohall. Invaded by the larger nation of Makaan more than once during it's wars with Cameleopardis and Emlund, Lamartierre has become quite insular, one of the few nations of Haringia that has not joined the Camelan Union. It has not accepted any refugees from either Gurkhul or Serovan. As a result while it is largely free of the civil unrest common in other nations of Haringia, it is suffering from a number of systemic economic issues as its population suffers the effects of a lack of divine magic without a ready workforce to take up the extra labor required. Makaan - The traditional home of the Dwarven race, militaristic and still powerful. Was once quite xenophobic and responsible for the biggest conflict of the Fourth Age, a war with nearly all of the nations of Haringia that it almost proved victorious during. Now it is the primary load-bearing structure of the Camelan Union, contributing the lion's share of economic and military support to the organization. Due to long traditions of civic responsibility, personal industriousness, and military excellence Makaan has maintained a fair degree of social capital despite admitting large numbers of goblinoids, who have been adapting better to the rigid order found there as opposed to the more permissive societal mores in the other countries of Haringia. Portelas - Formerly the peaceful homeland of the gnomes, it has now become a nearly barren wasteland. Portelas was one of the first Haringian nations to sign the Camelan Union Charter, and enthusiastically embraced the initial benefits offered by the influx of peaceful goblinoids attracted by the prosperity of the region. The newcomers brought with them a very different way of life, and the populace of the small nation was unprepared for the demographic shift. Portelas is now considered a failed state by most other nations, having only a modicum of government functional in only the loosest sense. Most areas are anarchic at the best of times, and there is generally some form of open warfare occurring somewhere within its borders at any given time. "Alas Portelas" has become a rallying cry of the demihuman supremacist groups across the world. Holober - Erlund - Rectifii - A pastiche nation created by the Treaty of Threshold in an ill-considered attempt to both quell the near-constant low-intensity internecine squabbling that had dominated the region for centuries in the wake of a long-ago occupation by goblinoids and also punish Sarcasionne for siding with Makaan during the war. After several generations of growing pains it has managed to cobble together a fairly stable sense of identity and purpose, although there is a strong movement to reunite with Sarcassione. An equally strong group maintains that the two countries should remain separate and while the disagreement has not yet become a war futurists project that a conflict is inevitable, especially now with the economic and political instability resulting from the influx of goblinoids from Ortugan. Sarcasionne - The arid nation of Sarcasionne occupies a relatively small area on the tip of the southwest peninsula of Haringia. The only nation in Haringia to have fallen under goblinoid control for any appreciable period, the culture and architecture there retains a definitively exotic flair compared to the rest of the continent as well as a large number of native-born goblinoids. At times it has been a world power with a sea navy to rival any on Rakendawn, but has fallen on difficult times since the end of the Olaris War. While modern historians credit their decision to side with Makaan with inescapable realpolitik, at the time the Troikate nations levied the same harsh penalties against it as it did Makaan. Unlike its one-time dwarven ally, the human nation of Sarcasionne has never fully recovered, and remains a third-rate player on the world stage. Its issues have become even worse in recent years as a tide of goblinoids from Ortugan have settled there. Functio - Degatiz - Recision - Ortugan: East of the WorldSpine The Ashlands - The Blighted Northern region of Ortugan, home to The Interslice and Mount Khora. Around Mount Khora are the Blasted Wastes, with the Swamp of Sorrow to the south west, and the Twisted Forest along the eastern borders. Ortugan Shogunate - During the First Age the humans of the Ortugan region were no more than uncivilized barbarians who warred with both themselves and their neighbors incessantly, but the Upheaval cemented them into a remarkably stable polity unlike any other on Rakendawn. Watching the mighty Argens empire be borne under by a screaming horde of mutated monsters, the disparate Clans formed a rigid system of governance that has lasted thousands of years. While Clans may jockey for power and influence as their fortunes wax and wane, only the most craven citizen of the Shogunate regards their stewardship of the Pristine Frontier as anything less than paramount. Gurkhul - At the southernmost tip of the Worldspine lies an inhospitable region inhabited by some of the most dangerous creatures in the world. And also some of the unluckiest. Kept locked nearly in the Stone Age throughout recorded history by the near-constant predation of supernatural creatures and lack of accessible natural resources, Gurkhul has only very recently attained even the most basic measures of civilization. Conquered wholesale by Makaan early in the Fourth Age, the goblins were subject to existentially horrific treatment by the occupying dwarves. Millions were put to the sword or worked to death before the occupation was ended by the Treaty of Threshold. Since then the region has reverted to barbarity, causing massive famines as the agricultural and economic systems emplaced under dwarven rule collapsed. In addition to the famines all the tribal feuds that were suppressed by the brutal regime has now re-emerged only now persecuted with modern weapons. Worse yet, sometimes only in the hands of one side, causing purges as bloody if not as widespread as those that occurred under Makaanian occupation. In an era where world travel is more available than times past, many goblins have left the region to settle elsewhere in the world, primarily the sympathetic nations of the Camelan Union. Serovan - The hobgoblins of the Serovan plains have always been more organized than their Gurkhuli and Styrian compatriots, which in the past meant that they were much more effective in mounting attacks on Haringia but now means they are able to enjoy a much higher standard of living. While Gurkhul has remained quite primitive and Styria is only now climbing out of the Third Age, Serovan's capital Serovan City is as advanced and cosmopolitan as any in the world. The innovation of non-magical smelting of adamant midway through the Fourth Age catapulted the region to prominence, as prior to that the mineral was of only minor importance due to the difficulty of putting it to use. Now adamantine alloys are used in the construction of tools, vehicles, and structures all over the world and most of it comes from the mines of the Serovan. Styria - Without access to the Attenuan Ocean that their southern neighbors enjoyed, the hobgoblin denizens of the Styrian steppes remained more primitive than their Serovan counterparts. While comparatively advanced during the First Age due to the influence of the early Velascan and Argens empires, they were plunged into a dark age from which their culture is only now starting to recover from. Possessed of even richer adamant deposits than Serovan but later in exploiting them due to their proximity to the Ashlands, they are rapidly becoming an economic powerhouse. Despite the riches flowing into the region from all over the world, the poor of the area have yet to see much improvement in their lot in life. As a result of this and the recent degradation of the integrity of the Pristine Frontier many Styrians have traveled over the Worldspine in a peaceful echo of their barbarous forebears to seek their fortunes in literally greener pastures. Velasco - A tiny and in some ways infant nation near the eastern end of the Fuldarion river's entrance into the Worldspine, it is regarded as the ancient homeland of the Draconian race. While the seat of a great empire in the First Age, since then Velasco has at times been overrun by demons from the Interstice due to its proximity to the Sea of Decibe and at others crushed under the heel of goblinoid domination from its southern neighbors of the Serovan Plains. After the Olaris Wars however, the victorious powers of Haringia recreated the ancient nation as a safe homeland for the few remaining draconian tribes who had suffered greatly during that conflict. While intended as a grand demihumanitarian gesture some more cynical historians observe the value of such a nation as a buffer against further goblinoid aggression. The fact that the borders of the relatively new were drawn arbitrarily from ancient histories with very little regard for the peoples inhabiting the land at the time only increases the tensions. As a result it has suffered almost constant attacks in the centuries since then but has withstood them all with great aplomb due to the amazing industry of its citizens and the staggering effectiveness of its military. That has changed in recent decades as the tide of public opinion has yet again shifted against draconians due to their continued mistreatment of otherwise peaceable goblinoids living near their borders. Perhaps out of sheer dwarven contrariness only Rohall continues to support the existence of Velasco on the international stage.